The present invention relates generally to pre-paid services and more particularly to a pre-paid card system having remote terminals to provide on-site activation and recharging of cards in customer-defined amounts, and to provide surveying of customers at the time of card usage.
A conventional technique of conducting customer surveys typically involves providing a customer with a number of questions concerning a product or service and manually recording the customer""s responses. Such manual surveying approaches are both labor intensive and expensive. The manually derived response data must typically be input into a database and may be subject to varying degrees of modification due to human interpretation and error.
Electronic surveying techniques are typically less expensive and error prone than manual approaches. Such electronic techniques, however, are typically incapable of accurately determining the time that has elapsed between a particular survey and a particular service or goods transaction. Accurate knowledge of the time of a particular transaction relative to the time of a customer survey is believed to significantly affect the legitimacy of the survey. Electronic surveying techniques which involve the use of conventional calling cards, for example, suffer from these and other deficiencies.
Pre-paid calling card services are well-known in the art. Such cards are typically purchased from vending machines and the like and come in fixed value increments, for example, $10, $20 arid $50. A $10 card provides the customer with a certain number (e.g., 30) minutes of long distance time from any touch-tone telephone to any location in the United States, regardless of the time of the call; the $20 card provides twice that amount, and so forth. Because the long distance charges are limited to the card""s face value, neither the customer nor anyone who obtains possession of the card can run up a large bill.
In operation of the prior art system, cards are batch-activated by the card provider in a limited number of predetermined values. A customer purchases one of these pre-activated cards by paying a fee. The card typically includes a predetermined identification code (which may be obscured by a scratch off material). To use the card, the customer accesses the service (usually through an 800-number), enters the identification code (typically obtained from the back of the card), dials the destination number and the call begins. Prior to dialing, the system may inform the user of a then-current card balance. If during a call the time remaining on the card is about to expire, the customer may be prompted (through a voice over) that only a certain amount of time (e.g., 30 seconds) remains. When the designated time has expired, the call is automatically terminated.
Such systems have proved commercially successful and desirable for several reasons. Pre-paid calling card customers avoid collect and operator assistance surcharges, and they can obtain long distance calling without credit and without payment of monthly bills. The cards themselves are easy to use. While the prior art systems have proven advantageous, they have somewhat limited flexibility. The most significant drawback is the requirement that pre-paid calling cards be issued in fixed or preset amounts. Also, once the time allotted to a particular calling card expires, the card is typically discarded, requiring the customer to carry multiple cards that can be stolen or lost. Existing systems do not have the flexibility to allow the customers to purchase variable amounts of calling time or to recharge xe2x80x9cusedxe2x80x9d cards at the retail site.
There is thus a need for an improved telephone pre-paid calling card system that overcomes these and other problems associated with the prior art, and one which facilitates accurate and meaningful surveying of customer experiences.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pre-paid card system that includes on-site activation of cards in varying amounts.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a pre-paid card system and method that facilitates point-of-sale activation of cards using data terminals connectable to a host computer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a card system wherein on-site recharging is provided to enable a pre-paid card to be reactivated and re-used following expiration of all, part or none of an initial authorization amount.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a pre-paid card system having a plurality of data terminals remotely connectable to a host computer, each of the data terminals providing on-site point-of-sale activation and recharging of cards in varying amounts. The host computer dynamically manages each of the authorized cards.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a pre-paid card system wherein each authorized card has a security number associated therewith for enabling a host computer to track usage, recharging, recharge locations and similar management information. Preferably cards are authorized or re-authorized for variable amounts although xe2x80x9cstalexe2x80x9d cards, i.e., cards that have been sold but not used or reauthorized for a predetermined time period (e.g., 6 months) may be purged from the system.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a pre-paid card system wherein the host computer maintains a database of authorized cards, the database including detailed information about the authorization, recharge and use status of each card in the system.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a pre-paid card system wherein surveying of customers and locations is selectively conducted upon usage of a pre-paid calling card.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a pre-paid card system wherein a host computer dynamically selects and alters a survey or survey strategy in response to various system and user-specific criteria.
In one embodiment, a pre-paid calling card system enables customers to access a telephone network and obtain long distance telephone service. The system includes four main functional components: a plurality or calling cards, a host computer, a plurality of activation terminals and a call processor. Each of the calling cards preferably includes a body portion and a read-only memory stripe having stored therein a security number. The card is typically formed of cardboard or plastic and may include the security number in cleartext under a suitable blackout. The main management and processing of the system is effected by the host computer, which is connectable to the telephone network. The host includes a database for storing security numbers associated with authorized calling cards and one or more survey files. The data terminals are remote from the host computer and connectable thereto for transmitting data between the terminals and the host computer. The call processor is controlled by the host computer for interfacing one or more customers to the telephone network using the authorized calling cards.
Preferably, each data terminal includes means (such as a cardreader) for reading a calling card to determine the security number stored in the read-only memory thereof, means (such as a keypad) for entering any monetary amount corresponding to an amount of call authorization associated with a particular calling card, means (such as a modem) for dialing the host computer to transfer the security number, the call authorization amount and the data terminal identification, and means (such as a display) for receiving and displaying a verification message from the host computer authorizing receipt of the monetary amount.
The data terminal allows for variable authorization and recharging of a calling card. When the cardreader cannot detect the security number stored in the memory (which may occur, for example, when the card has been damaged and it is presented for recharging), the data terminal operator may enter the security number using the keypad to enable point-of-sale activation or recharging of the card. By keeping track of the security number and the identification of the authorizing data terminal, the system can generate accounting and/or billing information so that system operator can determine which data terminal operator authorized and/or recharged a particular calling card. This enables the system operator to reconcile all transactions.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a user may activate or recharge a pre-paid card with an authorized dollar amount at a user activation terminal. The pre-paid card may then be used to purchase various goods and services up to the authorized dollar amount. The prepaid card and activation terminals function in the same manner as discussed above with respect to a calling card. The activation terminals are interfaced with a main processor. The main processor includes a host computer responsible for management and processing of the system through a purchasing network. The host computer includes a database for storing security numbers associated with authorized purchase cards and enables users to purchase goods and services up to authorized dollar amounts using the authorized pre-paid cards.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the system determines whether a particular customer is authorized to participate in an interactive survey upon usage of a calling card or purchase card. A particular survey, as well as the query sequence and content of the survey, may be dynamically selected and altered by the system in response to a number of system and user-specific parameters and factors.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the preferred embodiment.